CHEMINFO, 2009
Life cycle assessment of renewable fuel production from Canadian biofuel plants for 2008-2009
A new independent third party analysis of Canadian renewable fuel production conclusively confirms that Canadian produced ethanol and biodiesel significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Cheminfo Services Inc., a specialized environment, energy, transportation, and chemicals consulting firm was hired by the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association to analyze a sample of eight ethanol plants and three biodiesel plants in Canada. The analysis was conducted using the most recent version of the Natural Resources Canada GHGenius lifecycle assessment model for transportation fuels. The analysis of the Canadian renewable fuel plants found that: (1) on an energy basis, the results show that the reduction in fuelcycle GHG emissions from one megajoule of ethanol (when used in an E10 fuel blend) is 62% of the fuelcycle GHG emissions for one megajoule of gasoline; (2) on an energy basis, the results show that the reduction in fuelcycle GHG emissions from one megajoule of tallow biodiesel (when used in an D95/TD5 fuel blend) is 99% of the fuelcycle GHG emissions of one megajoule of petroleum diesel.
